Fatal Whispers
by Alantie Mistaniu
Summary: He could not stop. He couldn't. . . and in the end, the results were beyond disasterous.


A/N: Hello again everyone! I'm trying to do something a little different here, so this is a bit more depressing and darker than some of my other stuff. I'm not sure how well it will be recieved. . . Also, the ending is intended to be ambiguous, so it's left up to your interpretation what happens later. Done for the CxA forums 100 challenge, for the theme Whisper. Please read and review my dears!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

**Fatal Whispers**

Hands clasped together, head bowed, lips moving in silent speech. She knelt alone in an eerie, holy silence that not even the sound of his footsteps seemed able to break as they echoed off the walls shadowed in gloom. There was a fragileness about her still figure that belied the true strength of her spirit; perhaps it was the radiant light that spilled down on her from the high vaulted ceiling, or maybe it was the color of her raiment- palest pink like a maiden's blush.

All of this he took in, relief coursing through his veins as he descended the stairs toward the alter. She was alone, unharmed, and safe. Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Cloud paused, unaware that his companions had almost crashed into him. Likewise, Aerith seemed oblivious to their presence, her form as unmoving as a china figurine.

"C'mon," Yuffie hissed in his ear, shoving lightly on his shoulder as she attempted to squeeze between him and Barret, even as Vincent grabbed the back of her shirt to restrain her. "Let's get her already!"

"Quiet, kid!" Cid shot at her in a low voice. "We might be disruptin' her!"

"Cloud?" Tifa murmured in his ear, her hand reaching out to take his.

He brushed her away, shaking his head as he stepped away from the group. They fell silent as he lifted his hand and glanced back, motioning them to stay back. For some reason, this felt like something he should do by himself. Yuffie pouted and Tifa seemed surprised, but they all remained where they were, allowing Cloud to turn and approach the kneeling girl alone.

The soft echo of his boots on the marble floor should have alerted her to his approach, but Aerith did not look up, and he stopped in front of her awkwardly. There was so much he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to do, but he was frozen by his indecision. Inhaling shakily, he summoned every last shard of courage he had and took that last step.

Screaming pain seared through his head and he gasped, body arching with the agony. His hands clamped to his head as he bent over, clutching at his hair tightly. Vision clouding in a violent haze of green, black, and white, he found his body straightening on it's on, harsh voices hissing through his mind.

_Kill her. Destroy the girl!_

He tried to respond, tried to do anything, but he was drowning in the syrupy fog. His limbs felt like lead and would not obey any commands, his eyes could not see and even his own thoughts were being clamped down on and smothered.

_Jenova commands. Sephiroth orders. Kill her now. Kill. Kill. KILL. _The voices rose maliciously, tearing at his consciousness with sharp swipes of mental claws. His hands were curving around the hilt of his sword, drawing it from his back easily. Confusion fluttered through him as he swung it up above his head, and he fought to bring his vision into focus. _Do it now. Slice her. Break her. Kill her. _His arms were trembling, and he didn't understand why. Why was he standing in front of this girl? _Stop thinking! Get rid of her. Go on, kill her! Kill her NOW!_

Time slowed as the blade came down. Dark lashed lids fluttered and the girl's head lifted, a smile curving her lips as a happy light of recognition flared through her bright eyes. Emerald met mako blue and he gasped, awareness rushing back to him.

'_Aerith. . .Aerith. . .no-no! Nonononono!!'_

The edge of steel sliced through with no resistance. Those green orbs widened in pain, mouth falling open as a quiet gasp escaped her. The hands clasped in prayer slackened and fell down to her sides, and Cloud distantly heard the clatter of his sword against the marble floor as the girl fell forward like a dying flower. His knees hit the floor, catching her as she collapsed. A horrid, heart-wrenching scream broke through the eerie slowness, throwing time back into its proper speed, and he realized with a start that the sound was ripping from his own throat.

"AERITH!!!"

Her body was trembling against his frame, breath coming in short, strangled gasps as her frail fingers clutched weakly at the fabric of his shirt. Warmth was seeping from her body rapidly, and he held her against his body, vainly trying to halt the flow of crimson life that was draining from her.

"Aerith! Gods, Aerith! What have I done? _WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"_

He was sobbing into the chestnut colored hair that flowed freely down her limp, broken frame, his hands trembling as he tried to hold her gently. The voices in his head were dying, their malicious chants fading into silence, but he could not mistake their glee, nor the face that flashed across his vision; a face framed by silver hair with aqua green eyes alight with victory. _Jenova has succeeded. I've won. It's all thanks to you. I didn't even have to do it myself._

"No!!" he shrieked, the word ending in a wail of sorrow and despair.

A faint tickle of warm air grazed his cheek lightly, and with a start he realized that she was still alive.

"I'm so sorry," he gasped pitifully. "So sorry. . ."

Slim fingers brushed his own lightly, eye lashes tickling against his neck as she blinked slowly. Her head stirred, and the movement dislodged a round object that fell, bouncing against the marble floor. Her lips brushed against his ear as she spoke, her melodic voice a faint, broken whisper of sound. A splash echoed off the walls and Aerith gave a last shuddering breath before her body went still in his embrace.

Through the horrifying silence, quiet sobs reached Cloud's ears and the numbness vanished. Another despair-laced cry escaped his lips as he and his whole world shattered into a thousand tearing shards.

They had laid her to rest in the lake outside. More specifically, he had. Unable to let her go, he had refused the offers of help that his comrades had offered, carrying her lifeless body up those long winding stairs and into the pool that would become her final resting place.

The others would not look at him directly, not that he could blame them. The only exception was Vincent, and his gaze only made the hollow ripping emptiness worse. Never had he wanted to understand what the other's crimson eyes had reflected; now that he did, it was unbearable. They shared the same fate, and he understood perfectly well why the other had been content to lay in a dark dank coffin for the rest of his existence. If only there was one that could be buried deep enough to erase him.

He had stood waist deep in that icy water for what had felt like ages, unable to let her go, unable to give her into the cold cradle of the liquid's embrace. It was a torture, and he accepted the punishment with sadistic relief- he deserved every bit of agony for the deed he had committed, the cruel slash that had soaked her pale pink gown with thick crimson blood.

Somehow his arms had open and she drifted down, that smile still on her lips. Heart shredding, Cloud could only watch in aching agony as she grew smaller and smaller until she was swallowed up in the dark depths of the bitter cold water- gone. Only her last tearing words remained, haunting him, whispering over and over through his mind.

He should be the one lying at the bottom on the silt and mud, cold for his grave.

The thought had refused to leave his mind, even after they had left. He had not gone willingly, and when the others at last slept he had returned to her. On his knees again, he screamed and wept, his hands curled into fists and pounding against the bank. He cursed Sephiroth, Jenova, Shinra, but most of all, he cursed himself. The only person he had ever loved, who he felt truly loved him in return, dead by his own hands because he was nothing but a weak, pathetic puppet without a will of his own.

And she had _smiled._ He stood above her, sword raised to strike, her executioner, and she had only smiled at him. The bitter irony punched another cruel hole through his chest. He was supposed to protect her- he had _promised_ her to be a bodyguard, and what had he done? A few hours without her, and he was completely and utterly lost, falling apart. How had he survived before he had met her? How would he go on with her no longer in this life?

A hand smacked against the ground, causing grime to splatter on his clothing, still coated in her scarlet blood. On his knees he knelt, panting beside the lake, fighting against the unbearable agony lancing through his soul as her last words whispered through his mind.

'_You are not to blame. . .but I forgive you anyway.'_

"Don't say that," he begged, shaking his head to block the sweet voice he both longed and loathed to hear.

'_Not to blame. . .'_

'_. . . I forgive you.'_

"Stop it. . ." came his feverish gasp.

'_I forgive you.'_

'_I forgive you. . .'_

' _forgive you. . .'_

"SHUT UP!!" Cloud screamed, clapping his hands over his ears, his forehead hitting the muddy ground. "Shut up. . .don't say that. . .don't say it! I killed you. . . I KILLED YOU!!!"

'_You are not to blame.'_

"I was too weak to stop it!" he snarled back, tears staining his cheeks as he clutched handfuls of dirt. "I couldn't stop it- I couldn't save you!"

Whether it was truly her voice he heard or only the echo of his own memory, he didn't know. But there was no answer to this. Trembling, he whimpered, tasting the salt of his own tears on his lips. Maybe he had never been able to save her. Maybe he had never been meant to save anyone. Not even himself.

Somehow, Cloud had dragged himself upright and was crouching on the balls of his feet, teetering on the edge of the bank and staring down into the dark, smooth mirror of water. He should be the one there. He should be the one to sink down, down, spiraling into an icy void. No coffin would be able to contain his pain. But maybe . . . maybe a watery grave would be able to wash away the agony, cleanse his sins. And . . . he would be with her. That was something he did not deserve, but the temptation was strong, pulsing through his veins. A craving to simply fall through the surface flooded his soul, to have the liquid filling his mouth and lungs, to let his lids shut and drift away from the suffering, from what he had done. . .

His breath coming rapidly in his throat, he leaned over, precariously balanced on the edge of dirt and water, so close. . . so very close. . . He could almost feel the moisture filling his mouth, the chilling cold freezing his body. Through the haze, he heard her voice, her sweet, beautiful voice again, whispering like a siren's call through his mind.

'_I forgive you. . .'_

Fingers stretched out, arms extending as he leaned out just a little farther. Mako blue eyes closed, delirious with loss, hurt, blame, and desire.

"Aerith . . ."


End file.
